Children of the Swords
by Kaiti-94
Summary: Cassie and her best friend Jack dream of escape from the Island of Tortuga and of a life on the open seas. Cassie hopes that along the way she will find her father, the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow and that they will rule the waves together...R&R :


'_Damn. Damn, damn, damn to the depths of hell! Run damn it RUN!' _Thought Cassie

'_Move legs! _

_Dodge the barrel.'_

The men chasing her were suddenly in front of her and behind her, blocking her escape.

'_Trapped_

_Shit_

_What would dad do?_

_Improvise.'_

Cassie reached for her sword, causing one of the men to joke, 'What's this? The little shrimp has a sword? Planning to fight your way out, darlin''

'Not exactly,' Cassie retorted. With one deft movement she cut through a rope tied to a pulley used to unload the ships when they made port. She watched with delight the look on the men's faces as she soared into the air and her weight cause the pulley to rotate, sending her flying out across the sea.

'HELL YES!'

Then the rope got tangled in the mast of a docked ship.

'HELL NO!'

With a yell of surprise, Cassie let go of the rope and free fell into the sea, feet first. She surfaced, spluttering and gasping for air, trying to clear her lungs of salt water. So much for the 'elegant' escape.

_I bet dad never had my problems. He's off lording it up in his big ship while I'm stuck with mum and 'dad' number 15. Drunkards. Still they're taking their daily drunken naps. As soon as I can get a passage of the stupid island, I'm out of here. Till then I'd better practise my pirating skills. Still, haven't been shot yet, knock wood, so things aren't so bad._

Cassie could still see the men on the dock scanning the sea for her, luckily for her blinded by the sun reflecting its rays off the water and unable to spot her. She took advantage of this to swim towards the shore where she scrambled out and hid under one of the docks, far away from the angry drunkards.

'_Looks like they've given up._' She thought. '_People give up fast around here, not enough energy to carry on chasing a teenage girl who can't keep her hands out of richer pigswills pockets.'_

'Hi Cassie'

'ARRGHHH!' She yelled, 'Jack! Don't do that! I'd a run you through!'

'It's nice to see you too. And I'd like to see you try.'

'I could so take you on.'

'In your waterlogged dreams, Cass. That was some impressive falling you did just there.'

'I had to improvise. I'd like to see YOU try that.'

'Nah, I'll leave it to the tiny delusional professionals.'

Jack danced out of the way of Cassie's punch.

'Feeble. C'mon, I'll teach you how to fight like a boy.'

'I am not feeble.'

'Fine. But you aren't half stubborn.' He dodged out of the way again.

'Alright, first if you ever find yourself without your knife, I mean sword,' Jack jumped out of the way as Cassie attempted to kick him. Her sword was a soft spot. Small as it was, it had served her well and it fit her size better than the bigger ones Jack had had her try out. 'Blind 'em with punches.' Jack continued. 'Make sure you keep your thumb on the outside though, otherwise you'll crush it and a broken bone is bad news.'

Cassie nodded. 'Like this?' she asked innocently, before punching him hard.

'Hey! I'm trying to help you be less of a girl! I thought you'd be grateful to my kindness at least.' Jack said, pulling a mock offended face.

At seventeen Jack was technically a man but he still enjoyed these occasional play fights with Cassie, though he called them 'lessons' so he'd still keep his dignity.

'Alright, now let's practise since you seem so eager to have the stuffing knocked out of you.'

Three hours of mock fist fighting later, Cassie looked more like the boy she was trying to be and Jack looked overly smug. He rested his arm on Cassie's head, making a silent joke about her height. She shoved him hard in the ribs.

Jack stumbled, laughing, 'At least you can shove well enough, all height restrictions considered.'

Cassie lunged at him again. 'I am a perfectly normal height for a fourteen year old. It's you who's the giant!'

Jack dodged her again, still laughing. 'Keep telling yourself that love.'

Cassie's fist came out of nowhere, connecting with his nose. 'Don't call me _love._' She leant back and placed her hands on her hips, pleased with her handy work. Jack's nose was now spouting ruby red blood. She watched with pleasure as he pressed a dirty looking scrap of cloth to it to staunch the flow.

However, instead giving her praise for her punch, he taunted her, 'That all you've got,' he paused, '_Shorty_.'

This pushed her over the edge. She flew at him with her hands curved into claws, scratching ever available patch of skin. He caught her hands easily. Laughing, while she struggled he remarked, 'So like a little girl to bring out the claws,' shaking his head in fake disapproval. With a snarl, Cassie brought her knee up hard.

'Ooof,' Jack doubled over. Then to finish him off, she gave him a quick jab in the solar plexus. 'Fighting's not all about brute force you know,' Cassie smirked.

'Smartass.'

'Ooooh, that's no way to speak to a young lady,' mocked Cassie, adding insult to injury, reminding him he'd just been immobilised by a girl half his height and three years his junior.

'Lady,' scoffed Jack, once he'd gotten his breath back. 'I thought the point of me letting you beat me up was so that'd you become more of a boy.' His words were muffled by the cloth he still had pressed to his face. It was more red than grubby white now.

'Could an ordinary lady mess you up like that?'

Jack grinned, 'Your mother sure could.'

Cassie grinned back, 'Aye, give her a couple ah pints ah rum and she'd slap anything that breathes.'

She examined her handy work. Jacks straight nose was still the same shape, though it was rather swollen and red, both from blood and bruising. No matter how mad she got at him she never broke a bone. It was just one of those unspoken rules they had, never break each other's bones. He had a few scratches that were red and inflamed from her cat attack and he was still sitting on the ground, thanks to her kneeing him. All these things, she was annoyed to find, just made him more handsome than ever. He now had the whole rugged bad-boy look going for him. She knew this would make him an even bigger hit with the 'ladies'. A man who could fight and still look halfway decent was a big catch around here, that is if you could catch his eye.

And many 'ladies' tried. Cassie'd get elbowed in the face and shoved out of the way by girls eager to win Jack's affections. No one looked for anything long term, just a display piece to show off how good at 'hunting' you were.

And Jack, with his wavy black hair, glittering brown eyes and cheeky grin, combined with his lean muscles and swarthy skin, was a highly sought after display piece indeed.

Jack revelled in the attention. When he got too big for his boots, Cassie would cut him back down to mortal size.

Cassie, on the other hand, was generally ignored by the older boys who preferred to spend their time with the floosies that fluttered their tattered fans and widened their heavily made up eyes while pushing their chest out as far as it could go without exploding out of their dresses. This, in Cassie's mind, was a good thing. Her mother, the notorious Scarlett, was one of the biggest floosies around as was her best friend Giselle, Jack's mother and Cassie had no desire to be like them. Both women fought and made up over men more times than Cassie had gotten into fights. It never ceased to amaze her just how far their friendship could stretch. As she had grown up, she's realised that they caught more men's eyes together than they did apart. Since their mothers had rarely been apart for more than three days it made sense that Cassie and Jack should grow up being such good friends.

Cassie had received her mother's naturally auburn hair (though she had been wearing a wig since Cassie was three) and her wide grey eyes. She looked nothing like her father according to her mother. She had never met him. Apparently he showed up from time to time but Scarlett wanted him all to herself. Well, herself and Giselle. They shared him, much to Cassie's disgust. She only ever learned of her father's visits after he had left, though she was getting better at spotting the signs of his arrivals. One day, she'd beat her mother to him and introduce herself and then he could teach her how to be a great pirate, the best, just like him. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Jack thought it was all nonsense, pointless dreaming, and that if her dad did show up, he'd rather spend time with her mother than with some small red-head girl who claimed he was her father. As Jack had pointed out, overhearing a discussion between Giselle and Scarlett, it was more than likely he had more than one illegitimate child out there. Though Cassie pointed out none of them had probably tried to contact him. Jack counter-argued that some might have, she didn't know for sure. She had stalked off in a huff.

'Dreaming about your dad again?' After spending most of his childhood with Cassie, Jack was good at figuring out what she was thinking about.

'Mmmm,' Cassie replied. She turned from him and stared out at the sea where the sun was beginning to set. Somewhere out there her dad was having the time of his life and she was stuck here, with no adventure and only Jack for company.

Jack stood up, having recovered by this point, and went over to stand beside her. He draped an arm around her shoulders pulling her in for a half-hug. Cassie gave a half-smile in return.

'Maybe he will come and visit and you'll get to see him,' Jack said, being sympathetic for once.

'Maybe.'

'Hey. Even if he doesn't come, we'll go sailing, you and me, away into the wild blue yonder.' Jack coaxed her gently to cheer up, giving her shoulder a little shake.

Cassie looked at him, 'And how would we come by this vessel?'

'Why, with my superior intellect and your improvisation skills, we'll commandeer one.'

Cassie snorted.

'What? If it works for your dad, it'll work for us.'

'What about crewing it?'

'We'll commandeer a small ship.' This time Cassie burst out laughing.

'If there is one thing I can rely on, it is your never-ending sense of idiotic optimism.'

'A lot of big words for such a small lady.' Jack grinned as Cassie half-heartedly punched him.

'I read sometimes, unlike you.'

'Ah, but you see, my smartness comes from my head not from dusty old book.'

Cassie rolled her eyes and resumed looking at the sea.

'D'you reckon your dad's out there?'

Jack ran his hand through his hair. Unlike Cassie, Jack had met his dad once and he had been a major disappointment. A Spanish sailor turned pirate who had spent the night with Giselle and left in the morning, only to return seven years later to find he had a son, an unnecessary burden. Jack had been disowned by his father right there and then and had promptly been told to 'go play for a while' with four year old Cassie, nearly five, while Giselle 'entertained' him. Jack hadn't seen his father since.

'Most likely. Though there's no way in hell I want to meet him again.'

Cassie glanced at him, taking in his fierce expression and changed the subject.

'So this ship, will it have a proper mast?'

Jack visibly brightened, 'Of course. Maybe two, depends which one we take a fancy too.'

'Well before we go-a-conquering, I think we should practise sailing in smaller boats first, just to get the hang of things.'

'Fine,' said Jack, 'but you have to promise me something.'

'What?' Cassie was suspicious.

'That next time you will punch me in face, not the nose. The ladies like rugged not mauled, though if that's your preference...' He danced out of the way of Cassie's fist and turned and jogged off, yelling back over his shoulder, 'Don't let me stop you.'

He then broke into a wild, laughter-drunken sprint as Cassie snarled and gave chase.


End file.
